Golden Gate University

The McDaniel Law and Literature Fund began in 1993 to assist and enhance instruction in the subject area "law and literature" through the purchase of books and other materials, as well as for the provision of supplementary funds for expenses related to its teaching. The course has been taught by various visiting and Golden Gate University faculty as schedules and time permits. In 1996, Mrs. D. Jamison McDaniel gave a supplementary gift to the law school for the purchase of books, materials, and equipment for the teaching of a Law & Film course, and gave yet another supplemental gift in 2005.

Mission Statement

The law library will actively collect books, videos and DVDs to support the Law & Literature and Law & Film courses in pursuit of (a) the best literary works that portray the practice and substance of the legal profession, (b) the body of law that enjoys literary status due to its importance in history and/or its outstanding contribution to legal literature, and (c) the classics of legal literature. The broad emphasis of selection will be on Anglo-American law and legal literature, but some foreign or international materials may be considered if a comparative analysis will be considered useful by the course instructor(s). The selections should be in English or English-language translations.

Selection Guidelines

The McDaniel Fund supports the "Law & Literature" and "Law & Film" courses. Selectors should meet with the current professors of these courses for input on purchases. The Law & Literature aspects will focus primarily on literary monographs, with supplemental scholarly literary criticism and history. Popular fiction and treatment should for the most part be avoided, unless there is a consensus among the selectors that such an item is indeed "literary"-- writings having excellence of form or expression and expressing ideas of permanent or universal interest. The Law & Film collection will contain monographs appropriate to the study of the law and film, as well as videos and other materials deemed suitable by the selectors in consultation with the instructor.

Access

The materials purchased with these funds will be made available first and foremost to those students enrolled in Law & Literature and Law & Film courses. Access by other university students will be allowed only after the course needs are met.

Materials available in the Law Library

Law and Literature

• Fiction
• Literary Criticism
• The Relationship Between Law and Literature
• Law In Literature
• Periodicals

Law and Film

• Law and Film
• Administration of Justice in Films

Web Resources

• Law & Humanities Blog
• The Lawyer in Popular Culture A bibliography from the Tarleton Law Library at the University of Texas School of Law
• Law & Literature Resources from the University of Virginia

"...I have an abiding faith in the fairness of the great mass of American people who I believe will unite in support of a leadership which has for its objective the establishment of a society where social equality and economic stability are not only Utopian theories but realities..."

-from an address delivered at a seminar for Trade Union Leaders on September 7th, 1957, entitled, "The Courts and the Constitution."

We gratefully acknowledge the donation of materials by Jesse Carter's grandson, Mr. Scott Carter.

Justice Jesse W. Carter of the California Supreme Court

Jesse W. Carter graduated from Golden Gate College of Law in 1913 and served as Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court from 1939 until his death in 1959. The Jesse Carter collection at Golden Gate University School of Law consists of copies of speeches given and articles written throughout his career, photographs, newspaper clippings, case files, and a painted portrait. Our archive of digital materials are on our Digital Commons.

• The Jesse Carter Collection on our Digital Commons

Other Materials of Interest

• 14 Cal 2d 179 (1939) concerns Carter's appointment to the bench.
• An extensive biography of Jesse Carter appears in Justices of California, 1900-1950, Volume II by J. Edward Johnson (1966), which includes discussion of his legal career, his dissents, his love of the outdoors, and "The Battle of Carter's Dam." The footnotes provide references to numerous newspaper articles.
• The 35th Annual Report of the American Civil Liberties Union, July 1, 1954 - June 30, 1955 refers to Jesse Carter on page 57.
• California Supreme Court Historical Society
• We are grateful to the editorial staff of University of California Press for granting permission to post the following article by Corrine Lathrop Gilb: Justice Jesse W. Carter, An American Individualist, 29 Pacific Historical Review 145 (1960).
• The Political Graveyard has an entry for Jesse W. Carter.
• The Josephine Creek Lodge in the Trinity Wilderness was formerly the private estate of Jesse W. Carter.

Case Files

The physical collection includes the following case files:

• People v Carter, 1958. Stemming from county filing to abate a public nuisance, i.e., the water level held by the dam on Judge Carter's property in San Anselmo, California. Includes pleadings, depositions, court transcriptions. Also includes a report from a private investigator in the matter of a speeding ticket incurred by Judge Carter.
• People v. Carter, Traffic complaint, May 8, 1958.
• Carter v Kern, 1959. Stemming from the sale of property, easement and maintenance of access road, water tank, and other matters.

The files also include an extensive collection of newspaper articles surrounding the incident of "Carter's Dam," which have been digitized and are available on our Digital Commons. Please contact the Law Library for access to materials that are not available electronically.